Whether you want to teleport a player to a new base, fix a stuck character, or give someone back a lost item, the data you need lives in the player's .dat file. The tricky part is finding the right file: playerdata files are named after UUIDs, not usernames.
Singleplayer vs. server: where the data lives
In a singleplayer world, your player data is stored inside level.dat under the Player compound, not in a playerdata folder. On a server, each player has a separate file named after their UUID inside the world's playerdata folder:
<world>/playerdata/<player-uuid>.datHow to find the right UUID file
- Open the playerdata folder and note the UUID filenames (for example, 069a79f4-44e9-4726-a5be-fca90e38aaf5.dat).
- Convert the player's username to a UUID with an online service such as MCUUID, or check the server's usercache.json for the matching name and UUID.
- Back up the whole playerdata folder before editing anything.
- Open the matching .dat file in Chunkweave.
Open a playerdata file
Chunkweave opens Java Edition playerdata .dat files as typed NBT trees in your browser.
The tags you will actually use
| Tag | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Pos | List of 3 doubles | Player position as X, Y, Z |
| Rotation | List of 2 floats | Yaw and pitch |
| Dimension | String | Dimension the player is in |
| Health | Float | Current health |
| Inventory | List of compounds | Items in the hotbar and inventory |
| EnderItems | List of compounds | Items in the ender chest |
| SelectedItemSlot | Int | Selected hotbar slot |
Change the player position
The Pos tag is a list of three double-precision numbers. Change them to teleport the player: for example, [120.0, 70.0, -250.5] places the player at X 120, Y 70, Z -250.5. Set Rotation to the yaw and pitch you want them to face.
Edit inventory items
Each entry in Inventory is an item stack with tags like id, Count, and Slot. In modern versions, id is a namespaced string such as minecraft:diamond_sword. The Slot tag places the item in the player's inventory layout; getting slots wrong can make items overlap or disappear, so test changes on a copy.
Safe editing on a server
- Stop the server completely with the stop command and wait for it to shut down.
- Back up the playerdata folder.
- Edit the player's .dat file in Chunkweave and download the copy.
- Replace the original file, keeping the old one as a .bak backup.
- Start the server and have the player join to test.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know which playerdata file belongs to a player?
The file is named after the player's UUID. Convert the username to a UUID with an online tool such as MCUUID, or check usercache.json on the server.
Why is my singleplayer player not in the playerdata folder?
In singleplayer, player data is stored in level.dat under the Player compound. The playerdata folder is used by servers.
Can I edit playerdata while the server is running?
No. The server will overwrite your change when it saves. Stop the server, edit the file, and start it again.
Does Chunkweave support playerdata .dat files?
Yes. Chunkweave opens Java Edition playerdata files as typed NBT trees and exports a separate edited copy.